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Intention and fair conduct
10-04-2016
"Every Sunday I sit with children between the ages of about 11 to 13. We discuss lessons from our religion and I usually tell them many stories. Last week I told them of a soldier who was defending his city and his religion but refused to kill a man after a duel because his opponent spat in his face on account of what he thought would be an impending death blow. The lesson was to maintain your intention and fair conduct even when you suffer personal injury or harm and to not allow yourself to become vindictive.
I have an agreement with the children that if they implement these lessons and share them with the class that we will share in some prize once they all implement a lesson each.
This week one student told me they had to discuss the effects of Isis on the world in their class at public school and at the end of the class they all shared where they were from. He mentioned he was from Pakistan. After the class one of the students decided to call him Isis. What happened after that brought tears to my eyes.
The student said when the child called him Isis he had the urge to call the boy many names, and he informed me of what some of these names were, but instead he said he remembered our lesson and held his tongue. The child that told me of his experience is also very big and strong for his age. Another student told me that children fear him on account of that and he knows it.
This child had the wit to respond in kind, he had the strength to physically escalate the matter and he had what many of us might think to be a justified reason to retaliate. Nonetheless, he decided to exercise restraint in his soul. This is an option many of us fail to understand is available and likely the best option in many cases. This is our religion. It brought tears to many of our eyes in the class and behaviour like this is what makes life beautiful. Teach your children these lessons and feel the serenity it brings to your heart.
P.s. I told the student he must report the child who called him Isis to the school as restraining yourself is one thing but preventing others from facing similar harm is also another thing."
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